Whenever we come to Mass, whenever we come to worship God together, we do certain things at the same time. So, there is that time when we all sit and listen to the word of God, we then stand for the gospel reading, we also sing together the same hymns, we then exchange the sign of peace at the same moment, and we kneel when the Host, the Body of Christ, is raised. Have you ever wondered why we do these things together and do not permit everybody to do what he or she wants and when they want? Yes, we want to avoid chaos and confusion. So, when it is the time to listen, we all listen and when we pray, we all pray. But there is a deeper meaning to this. We do them together because we are one body, one community of believers. We do it because Christ told us that the prayer of the whole community of believers is more powerful than individual prayers. That’s why we want to be in unity and harmony when we worship. “I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything for which they are to pray, it shall be granted to them by my heavenly Father. For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.”
